Line up trough for resawing machines



May 12, 1953 TRAPEUR 2,638,133

LINE UP TROUGHF'OR RESAWING MACHINES Filed Dec. 12, 1951 8 INVENTOR WI; TEA ,4. 704F503 Y 5% a3. Jib/M ATTORNEY Patented May 12, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LINEUP TROUGH FOR RESAWING MACHINES 7 Claims. 1.

This invention relates to sawmill machinery and in particular to: machineslfor resawing cents or timbers from whichslabs; have; already been sawed,

More specifically, my invention relates to an arrangement for use in connection with resawing machines to insure that the cant isproperly aligned with the; feed-rolls oithe. resawing ma chine before the cant enters the feederolls.

In present-day operation of resawing machines, it is common to employ two men to line up the cants with respect to the resawingmachine as the cants are deposited in-front oithemachine from the transfer chains. One man is positioned immediately at the resawing machine and the other man handles the other end of the cant. Notwithstanding the fact thataman is provided at each end of the cant, t frequently happens that a cant reaches the teed-rolls before it is properly aligned, and thisisdue partly to the fact that in a modern resawing machine the cant is fed to the machineat a speed of from 200 to 500 feet per minute and the operatorsdo not always have time to properly align the cant before it reaches the feed-rolls. When a cant is fed to the resawingmaohine withoutproper alignment, the saw ships the end of the board, which results in an unnecessary waste, and the saw is subjected to considerablestrain when the cant is moved to secure proper alignment after it reaches the saw.

An object of myinvention is to devise an arrangement for securing automatic lining-up of the cant as each cant is deposited from the transfer chains on the live rolls to be fed into the .resawing machine.

One advantage of my line-up trough is that it eliminates one man in theoperation of the resawing machine and thereby reduces thecostof operation. Another, and perhapsthe greatest advantage, is that my line-up trough eliminates the human error in the line-up operation and secures proper lining-up without attention. from the operator, thus eliminatin the snippins of the end of the board.

One form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in. which:

Figural is a plan view, in diagrammatic representation, of a resawing machine equipped with my line-up trough.

Figure 2 is an end View of Figure 1 taken irom the outer end ofthe linesup trough.

Figure 3 is asectional view of Figure 1 taken along the line 3--.-.-3.

Fisurei is a sectional viewotFisure 1 taken along the line Referring to the drawing, the various figures illustrate the invention and the resawing Ina-.- chine in skeleton or diagrammatic form to illustrate the principle of operation of the invention, various structural details being omitted for the sake of clarity oi illustration.

My invention is applied to any conventional form ofv resawing machine having a saw-blade I located immediately behind two sets of ieed rolls 2 and which operate in the usual manner to feed cents to theblade I to be resawed, Both sets of feed-rolls are mounted to move towards and away from each other. Rolls 2 are the gage or set rolls which determine the thickness of the. board which is sawed from the cant in the resawing: machine. This set of rolls is mounted in a suitable movable frame, represented at 4, and is movable transversely of the resawing machine by conventional means, represented by the screw it, which passes through a frames-member 8 and has threaded engagement with a part of the frame 4. By adjusting the hand-wheel 5a of the screw 5, the feed-rolls 2 may be moved to the proper position for sewing from the cant a board of the desired thickness. The feed-rolls 3, commonly known as the pressure rolls, are also mounted for movement transversely of the machine to accommodate cants of different widths. The arrangement forrnounting and moving the pressure, rolls has not been illustrated since such arrangement is conventional and forms no part of the present invention.

Cants to be resawed are fed to the resawing ma,- chine from a number of live feed-rolls I mounted in spaced horizontal relation upon a bed formed of parallel frameunembers la and lb, see Figure l. These rolls are driven by suitable means, not shown, to feed a cant towards the resawing machine at the desired speed. The squared timbers or cants are deposited upon the horizontal feed!- rolls 1 from an inclined transfer or ramp 8 by means of transfer chains 8 forming part of the transfer mechanism and being driven by shaft Ill. The transfer mechanism, including the deck 8, chains 9 and shaft It, have been shown in dotted lines to avoid confusion with the strum ture located beneath the deck.

The parts described above are parts or" a con ventional resawing machine; and the following description is concerned with the present inven-.- tion.

My invention involves a trough structure formed of two vertical wall members arranged in parallel relation above the horizontal feedutolls 1 and adapted to engage opposite sides of the cant to be resawed. Both side Walls of the trough a level.

are "movable tranversely of the row of feed-rolls. One of the side walls, which would be referred to as the set wall, is connected by suitable means for movement with the movement of the feed-rolls 2 of the resawing machine and remains in alignment with these rolls at all times. 'The other side wall of the trough is mounted for floating inovement with respect to the set wall, and is normally biased by yieldable means toward the set wall.

'Again referring to the drawing, the set wall my line-up trough is shown at I I and conveniently may be formed of a channel iron arranged on-edge and extending throughout the length of the bed which supports the horizontal feedrolls I. The floating wall of the trough also may be formed of a channel iron I2 mounted parallel with the wall I I above the rolls I, but in'this case the floating wall is terminated short of the resawing machine to provide a space in which the operator of the resawing machine may have access to the front end of the cant for the purpose of turning the cant to the proper position within the trough.

Both side walls of the trough are mounted for sliding movement transversely of the trough and, preferably, these walls are mounted upon a number of transverse slides supported upon framemembers Ia and 1b at points spaced along these members. As shown in Figure 4, each transverse slide includes a cross-piece I3 arranged across the upper edges of frame-members Ia and 1b, and supporting a pair of bearings I3a. and I3?) at the two ends. A shaft I4 is journaled in bearings I31: and I31) and is rotated continuously by any suitable means, represented by the belts I la in Figure 1.

Immediately above each shaft I4, channel iron I I is provided with a mounting bracket formed of a horizontal plate I Ia secured to the lower flange of the channel and extending outwardly over shaft I4, and an inclined plate I Ib secured to the upper flange at its upper end and to the outer end of the plate I la. If desired, a web plate may be inserted in the space between the channel I I and the plates Na and I II) for additional strength. Each plate IIa is supported upon a pair of spaced bearing blocks I I0, which are journaled upon shaft I4. As shown in Figure l, channel iron I2 is supported upon shaft I4 in similar manner by bracket plates I2a, Izb, and spaced bearing blocks I2c which are journaled upon shaft I4.

The floating wall of the trough differs from the set wall in that it is provided on its inner face with a metal plate I2d which extends above the upper flange of channel I2 and is curved outwardly from the trough, for the purposes indicated below.

The arrangement for moving the set wall I I of the line-up trough to maintain this wall in alignment with the feed-rolls 2 of the resawing machine includes a shaft I5 journaled in suitable bearings and mounted at or somewhat below floor This shaft extends throughout the length of the line-up trough and is connected at its for ward end with the movable frame 4 of the feedrolls 2 by means of a vertically extending lever I6 secured at its lower end to the shaft I5 and pivotally connected at its upper end with the frame 4 by means of a link I'I. At each transverse slide location shaft I5 is also provided with a vertically extending lever I8 which is pivotally connected at its upper end to a part of the set wall II by means of a link I9. As shown in Figure 4, the inner end of the link I9 is pivotally connected with one of the bearing blocks He. The levers I6 and I8 and the links H and I9 are so designed and arranged that the inner face of the set wall II is in alignment with the inner surfaces of the feed-rolls 2 of the resawing machine, and any movement of the feed-rolls causes a corresponding movement of the set wall II, so that this wall remains in proper alignment for all adjustments of the feed-rolls 2.

For the purpose of maintaining the floating wall I2 of the trough in parallel relation with the set wall II, a shaft 20 is journaled in suitable bearings at or below floor level and is provided at spaced points with upwardy extending levers 2| which are pivotally connected at their upperends to a suitable point on the floating wall I2 by links 22. Thus, movement of one end of the wall I2 results in a corresponding movement of the other end through the connection by way of shaft 20. The floating wall I2 is normally biased for movement towards the set wall II, and one suitable biasing arrangement illustrated in the drawing involves suitable weights 23 suspended from flexible ropes or chains 24 passing over pulley 25 and being connected to the lever 2I. Suitable stops may be provided at each transverse slide position to prevent the floating wall from going beyond the middle of the trough, or beyond any other desired location.

Since the set wall II of the line-up trough moves toward and away from the transfer deck 8, it is necessary to provide some means of bridging the gap between the wall and the deck when the wall moves away from the deck. For this purpose a number of transversely extending bridging arms 26 are mounted on the wall II and extend into notches 8a formed in the edge of the deck 8. As shown in Figure 2, these arms bridge the gap between the deck 8 and the wall II so that cants delivered by the transfer chains 9 will be deposited in the trough and will not become lodged in the gap between the wall II and the deck 8. Due to the fact that the floating wall I2 is always urged towards the wall I I by yieldable biasing means, the trough is always of less width than the cant to be resawed. Accordingly, when a cant is delivered from the transfer deck to the trough, the cant first engages the upwardly and outwardly curved plate I2d carried on the face of the floating wall I2 and pushes the floating wall away from the set wall II and permits the cant to rest upon the live rolls 7. If the cant is not in the right position for sawing, the operator of the resawing machine can easily turn the cant about its axis to the proper position before the cant reaches the feed-rolls of the resawingi,

machine.

The operation of my line-up trough is believed to be clear from the foregoing description. It. will be understood that the biasing weights 23. acting on the floating wall I2 will push the cant; into engagement with the inner face of the wall ll and thus automatically line up the cant with respect to the feed-rolls 2 of the resawing machine. The pressure exerted by the floating wall I2 is not sufiicient to prevent the feeding of the cant into the resawing machine by the horizontal live rolls 1, but it is sufficient to maintain the cant in contact with the set wall II. Since the set wall II is interlocked for simultaneous movement with the set rolls 2 by means of the shaft I5 and the connecting leversand links, the wall II remains in proper alignment with the rolls 2 for all adjustments of the set rolls 2.

It will also be understood that the continuous rotation of the shafts 14, forming the transverse slide supports for the two walls of the line-up trough, eliminates the static friction of the supporting slides, and either wall may be moved easily and quickly by applying force at any point along the length of the Wall, or by rotating the connected shafts IE or 20 by force applied at any point along their lengths.

Some advantage can be obtained by my invention by the use of the set or guide wall H and without the use of the floating wall it. For example, the cants may be manually moved into and held in engagement with the guiding force of the set wall II, or some other form of yieldable means may be used for moving and holding the cants against the set wall I i.

What I claim is:

1. In a resawing machine in which a set of vertical feed-rolls are mounted in a transversely movable support and a set of horizontal live rolls are arranged to move cants into feeding engagement with said feed-rolls, the combination of a line-up trough comprising a pair of parallel side walls arranged above said horizontal rolls and extending parallel with the feeding axis of said vertical rolls, means mounting both of said walls for movement transversely of the trough, means interlocking said movable feed-roll support and one of said trough walls for simultaneous movement of said trough wall with movement of said vertical rolls to maintain the inner face of said one trough wall in alignment with the inner surfaces of said feed-rolls, and yieldable biasing means for urging the other trough wall towards said one trough wall.

2. In a resawing machine in which a set of vertical feed-rolls are mounted in a transversely movable support and a set of horizontal live rolls are arranged to move cants into feeding engagement with said vertical rolls and cants are moved onto said horizontal rolls from a transfer deck arranged parallel with the set of horizontal rolls, the combination of a line-up trough comprising a pair of parallel side walls arranged above said horizontal rolls and extending parallel with said transfer deck, means mounting both of said walls for movement transversely of the trough, means interlocking said movable feed-roll support with the trough wall nearest said deck for simultaneous movement of said interlocked wall with move ment of said vertical rolls to maintain the inner face of said interlocked trough wall in alignment with the inner surfaces of said vertical rolls, a plurality of transversely extending arms carried by said interlocked wall and bridging the gap between said deck and said interlocked wall, and yieldable biasing means for urging the other trough wall towards said interlocked trough wall.

3. In a resawing machine in which a set of vertical feed-rolls are mounted in a transversely movable support and a set of horizontal live rolls are arranged to move cants into feeding engagement with said vertical rolls and cants are moved onto said horizontal rolls from a transfer deck arranged parallel with the set of horizontal rolls,

the combination of a line-up or cant-guiding wall arranged above said horizontal rolls and extending parallel with said transfer deck, means mounting said wall for movement transversely of said set of horizontal rolls, means interlocking said movable feed-roll support with the line-up wall for simultaneous movement of said guide wall with movement of said vertical rolls to maintain the guiding face of said guide wall in alignment with the inner surfaces of said vertical rolls, and a plurality of transversely extending arms carried by said guide wall and bridging the gap between said deck and said guide wall.

4. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said means for mounting said walls for transverse movement comprises a plurality of transverse slides spaced along the length of said walls, each slide comprising a rotary shaft arranged transversely beneath said walls, and bearing blocks journaled upon said shaft and supporting said Walls.

5. A machine according to claim 3 wherein said means for interlocking the movable feedroll support with the line-up wall comprises a rotary shaft arranged parallel with said line-up wall and beneath said transfer deck, a vertically arranged lever secured to one end of said shaft, a link pivotally connecting the upper end of said lever with said feed-roll support, a plurality of additional vertically arranged levers mounted upon said shaft at spaced points adjacent said line-up wall, and link elements pivotally connecting the upper ends of said additional levers with said line-up wall at points spaced along the length thereof.

6. In a resawing machine in which a set of vertical feed-rolls are mounted in a transversely movable support and a set of horizontal live rolls are arranged to move cants into feeding engagement with said feed-rolls, the combination of a cant-guiding wall arranged above said horizontal rolls and extending parallel with the feeding axis of said vertical rolls, means mounting said guide wall for movement transversely of said feeding axis, means interlocking said movable feed-roll support and said guide wall for simultaneous movement of said vertical rolls to maintain the guiding face of said guide wall in alignment with the inner surfaces of said feed-rolls.

7. A machine according to claim 2 wherein said other trough wall is provided with a guide plate on its inner face extending above the floor of said deck and being curved outwardly from the inner face of said other wall, whereby cants deposited in said trough engage said guide plate and move said other wall outwardly.

WALTER A. TRAPEUR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 657,666 Melb Sept. 11, 1900 902,502 Mereen et al. Oct. 27, 1908 936,314 Dittbenner Get. 12, 1909 

